Means for filling glass-melting tanks



S. B. HENSHAW.

MEANS FOR FILLING GLASS MELTING TANKS,

APPLICATION FILED AUG.28. 1920.

1,409,716. L PatentedMa1214,1922.

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, UNITED STATES PATENT ogrice.

SETH B. ,HENSHAW, OF CHARLESTON ,WEST VIRGINIA, .ASSIGN OR TO THELIBBEY- OWENS SHEET GLASS COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MEANS FOR FILLING GLASS-MELTING TANKS.

Specification of Letters Iatent. Patented ltIar. 14, 15 122.

. Application filed August 28, 1920. Serial No. 406,576.

. State of West Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Filling Glass-Melting Tanks, of which the fol-.

lowing is a specification.

' This invention relates to the art of glass making, and is concerned particularly with a device for easily and expeditiously filling a glass melting tank with cullet, when the furnace is first started in operation, or when the furnace or tank is being refilled after having been closed down and emptied for repairs or other reasons.

One object of the-invention is to provide a device which is readily attached to any furnace, and easily removable so that a single filling device will suffice for a battery of furnaces or melting tanks, as it is extremely unlikely that its use would be required with.more than one tank of a battery at'a time;

Affurther object is to provide a closure means for the tank, cooperating with the filling'device to close the tank opening and retain as much heat as possible therein while the filling device is not in operation and be automatically moved to uncover the filling opening when the filling device is moved up to discharging position.

Further ob ects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description of the apparatus proceeds.

. Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fi 1 is a side elevation of the device forming the subject matter of this .invention, the receiving end of the glass tank and the building floor being shown in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental ,side elevation, similar to Fig. 1, showing the hopper or filling device in discharging position.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the hopper.

Fig. 4 is a view of the sliding closure and its trackway, taken from below. looking in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1. i

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing one wa of arranging the hoisting cables for the opordinarily as its upper portion open at 3 so that the glass producing batch can be fed into the tank' through batch )ipe 4. This pipe connects with a supply iopper at its upper "end, and at its lower end is provided with a pivoted closure '5, operable by lever G, for regulating the flow of batch into'the tank. In the normal operation of the furnace, when filled with glass to the'required level, the batch will'be heaped up at the filling open'in 3 so as to close the opening and prevent t e undue escape of heat from the tank. All of the above is old structure,

now in common use, and is not claimed as part of this invention,

.When the tank is empty and it is desired to refill the tank and heat up the furnace, .the slab 7 is placed over the upper portion of opening 3, and the movable clay block closure 8 is mounted imposition to close the ticularl in Fig. 4. The trackways 11 are suspen ed by means of brackets 12 from the batch pipe 4, as shown in Figs. 1. and 2. A

cable 13 running over pulley 14, connects the carriage 9 with a'counterweight 15, the

weight of the clay block closure 8 being sufficient to elevate the counterweight, so

' that the closure will ordinarily move down to closed osition as shown in Fig; 1.

The fil ing device or hopper 16, is of substantially the form shown in Figs. 1 and 3, having a cullet holding chamber or trough surrounded on three sldesv by the walls 17,

and having at its fourth side an'outwardly extending spout 18, through which the cullet is dischar ed. The hopper is mounted at a slight ane, as shown in Fig. 1, in a frame 19, of. suitable angle-irons One end of the frame 19 's. pivoted. on a shaft 20 mounted in bearings 21, removably bolted to the floor, or other framework ,'adjacent to the tank. The elevated end of hopper 16, which is provided with the spout, overhangs the pivotshaft or axis of the frame as shown in Fig. 1. The rear end of the hopper, remote from the axis 20, is adapted to be elevated by any suitable mechanism, to discharge the contents of the hopper throu h spout 18 into the tank. In practice a suite is cable and w1ndthis purpose, and may mechanism is preferable for be arranged as shown more clearly in the'dlagram of. Fig. 5.v The cable 22is attached at one end 23 to the buckstay 24 of the'fur'nace or any other convenient stationary object, {then passes down and around a pulley 25 at one outer corner of the hopper, then up and over pulleys 26 and 27, down and around pulley 28, at the other outer corner of the hopper, up and over pulley 29, and thence to .the winding drum of any well-known type of Windlass (not known).

F or automatically operating the closure 8,another cable 1s secured at one end 3L lass hoisting to the lower side of theuframe 19, and after ing -adjace 'nt the filling ing tanks, a tiltable hopper a retaining as much of passing around pulleys- 32-and 33, shown 1n the drawings as mounted below floor 34 is attached to thecounterweightw at 35. a

In operation, the cullet is brought up in any suitable truck or other conveyor and dumped into the hopper 16. When the hopper is' filled, the Windlass is operated to swing-the hopper about its pivot into discharging position. As the hopper m'oi'es up away from the flo0r, it pulls up on cable 30,

- drawing, downthe counterweight 15,. which through'cable13 pulls the clay block 8 up the trackways 11, uncovering the filling opening,

and allowing spout 18 to .project into the opening and dischargethe -contents of the hopper into the tank, all as shown in Fig. 2

' of the drawings. When the hop er is emptied it is lowered back onto the oor, at the same time permitting the closure 8 to run back down trackways 11 until it resumes its first position closing opening 3.

It is seen that this mechanism is easily and quickly operable, requireslittle attention, and does notleave the'filling opening of the tank uncovered unnecessarily, thus the heat as possible in the tank, and facilitating the firing u of a new furnace, or the returning of an o (1 one to active duty.

It is apparent that many changes could be made in the form and details of this device and its operating mechanism without departingfrom the scope of the invention as outlined by the following claims.

laims:

'1. In an' apparatus for filling glass melttanks, a hopper adapted to be mounted opening of the ,tank, means for moving the hopper to discharging position within the opening, a closure for the opening, and interconnecting means between the closure and hopper, so that one of them is moved into the opening when the other isanoved away. m

2. Infan apparatus for fillin glass melt: d apted to be plvoted adjacent the filling opening of the tank, means -for tilting the hopper :to discharging position, a closure or gate for the of the tank, a closure for the filling opening,

and means for simultaneously moving the hopper to discharging position within the opening and withdrawing the closure from the opening, the closure; automatically returning to closing position when the hopper is withdrawn after 'being discharged.

'4. In an apparatus for filling glass melt -ing tanks, a hopperadapted to be mounted adjacent the filling opening of the tank, means formoving the hopper to discharge its contents into the the tank, a closure for .the filling opening, a trackway along which ',theolosure is movable to and from closing '"position, and connections between theclosure and'hopper for withdrawing the closure from the opening when the hopper is moved into the filling opening to discharge its contents. u

5. In an apparatus for filling glass melting tanksfizitiltable hopper adapted to be mounted adjacent the filling opening of the ftank, Means for tilting the hopper to'discharge its contents into for the'filling opening, a slidewa closi'i-re' :QIQ I' Ig WhlCh it is movabe to and from '-c'losing.fposition, a counterweight for-- the closure, a "cable connecting the closure and counterweight, and a cable connecting the counterweight and hopper, whereby when the. hopper is raised to discharging position .the'countcrweight will be drawn down and thtlosure moved back along its slideway to allow the contents of the hopper' to enter the filling opening.

6." In an apparatus for filling glass melting tanks, a tiltable hopper adapted to be mounted adjacent the. filling opening of the tank, means for tilting tl1e=l1opper to discharge its contents into the tank, a closure for the filling opening, a slidewa for the closure along which it is movab e to and adjacent the comprising a normally horilling openinggf the tank, a

the tank, a closure for the I v fining device for"glass ivotally mountedat one end normally inclined trough or hopper fixedly the filling opening and the hopper dissecured to the frame with its lower closed charged into the tank.

end art that end of the frame remote from Signed at Charleston, in the county of 10 'the pivot, and with the upper open end or Kanawha and State of Vest Virginia, this spout overhanging the pivot, and means for 20th day of August, 1920. swinging the frame and hopper about the 4 pivot 30 that the spout will be projected into SETH B. HENSHAW. 

